Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Takes $3.01 Million Position in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 20,293 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,011,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 62.3% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 20,165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 4,316 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 688 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 target price on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE BMI opened at $128.55 on Tuesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.09 and a 52 week high of $204.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.65.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 18.03%. The firm had revenue of $220.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Edward F. Callahan purchased 751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $101,572.75. Following the purchase, the vice president directly owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,979.25. This represents a 63.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.